From Virginia To New York With Murder
by asouthernsoul
Summary: Mac and Jo look into the murder of two college students but what happens when of the victims isn't really dead? And how does Jo's personal life fit in to all of this? Some Mac/Jo pairing ;
1. The Cowboy & Rodeo Queen

**A/N: DISCLAIMER. In no way do I own CBS or CSI:NY. Please don't sue me! **

**This is my first CSI:NY fan fic but not my first fan fic. I know this is a SUPER SHORT first chap but don't worry, I've got plenty more comin' up for y'all, please be patient. :) Without further adieu here is the first chapter of **_**From Virginia To New York, With Murder**_

**Ch. 1: The Cowboy and Rodeo Queen **

Mac Taylor leaned back in his chair and haphazardly tossed the file he had just finished on to his desk and scrubbed his hands over his face.

This past week had been living hell for the detectives at the New York Crime Lab due to the fact that they had had case after case and never seemed to catch a break.

Mac hadn't noticed Jo standing in his doorway until she spoke.

"Hey cowboy."

Mac looked up and saw a very tired but very beautiful Jo Danville standing in his doorway with an order of Chinese takeout and a six pack of beer.

"Hey there rodeo queen."

Jo smiled at his playfulness and took a seat on his couch where Mac joined her.

"I figured you hadn't eaten yet and you that you could use one of these" she said, gesturing towards the six pack on the floor.

Mac chuckled and nodded as he took the takeout boxes out of Jo's hands and put them in his lap.

Mac was eyeing the beer on the floor. Jo noticed.

"Mac, would you like a beer?"

"Thought you'd never ask Jo."

Jo smiled, twisted off the top of the beer and handed the beer to him. Jo grabbed her own beer, repeated what she just did to Mac's beer and then raised her bottle and said "to the end of one hell of a week."

"I'll drink to that" Mac said as he clinked his bottle against hers and took a long swig.

The two sat in comfortable silence as they ate their food.

Jo broke the silence after some time. "This is nice Mac, we need to do this more often."

"What? Go without sleep for an x amount of days while solving back to back homicides? You were under that Southern sun too long Jo."

Jo playfully smacked his arm. "No smart ass! I meant spending with each other outside of the field and office; having a meal together."

Mac was just about to answer her when his phone rang.

Jo groaned aloud and Mac chuckled as he answered.

"Taylor. Yeah, uh huh, sure, we're on our way."

Jo groaned "case?" 

"The city never stops."


	2. Undead Victim

**A/N: DISCLAIMER. In no way do I own CBS or CSI: NY. Please don't sue me! **

**This is my first CSI: NY fan fic but not my first fan fic. **

**Ch. 2: Undead Victim **

Mac and Jo drove together to the crime scene which was on Hudson University's off campus student housing block. Flack met the two detectives right as they were about to go in.

"Boy, you two look like hell" Flack said with a deadpan.

"I could say the same for you" Mac replied as a smile graced his lips.

Jo just smiled and said "whatdya got for us here Flack?"

"Neighbors called in when they heard screams and shots being fired. Vic's apartment is on the third floor. Two dead; they were boyfriend and girlfriend."

"After you" said Mac, extending his arm, letting Jo go in before him.

"What are their names?" Jo asked as the three detectives ascended the stairs to the vic's apartment on the third floor.

"The guy's name is Spencer Morris, twenty, he's a junior here at Hudson U, it's his apartment. We still don't have an ID on the girl yet. Spencer's neighbors say they've seen him a few times with this girl but she's apparently younger and doesn't go here which is why they don't know her."

The trio finally reached the third floor and saw that the inside of Spencer's apartment looked like a blood bath.

"From what I can tell" Flack began "our shooter busted down the door and shot Spencer to death right then and there. There was a lot of rage in our killer. Spencer's girlfriend tried to make a run for it by running into the back room and sliding under the bed to hide but she didn't get away clean. You'll be able to see the blood smear on the wall leading to the bedroom and the blood trail on the floor. You'll either have to move the bed or move the body when you're done snapping photos, she's still under the bed; I wouldn't dare touch the body. I'm going to finish taking statements and I'll leave you two to it."

"Alright, Mac you take Spencer, I'll take our Jane Doe."

Mac nodded and the two got to work.

Flack was right, Spencer's girlfriend did not make a clean break away and instead bled out on her way to try and find safety.

Jo processed the scene as always, taking pictures, dusting for prints, taking inventory, marking evidence; everything was business as usual til she heard a soft, low moan. Jo stilled for a few minutes but didn't hear the moan again. "God I'm goin' crazy" Jo thought to herself. "Well that's what less than ten hours of sleep in the past 92 hours will do to ya" she thought aloud, so she went back to work. A few minutes later she heard a moan, this time it was louder and after the moan came a "help me" from a female voice. "Okay, I'm not going crazy" Jo said aloud.

Jo rushed over to the bed, looked under it and saw that indeed the girl was still alive but just barely. Jo mustered up all the strength she could and was able to throw the mattress across the room. Then she took the bed frame and put it up against the wall. Jo then knelt down and carefully turned the girl over on her back and gasped aloud when she saw the girl's face. Once upon a time this girl had been her niece, by marriage. Jo began to apply pressure on her niece's wounds and that's when the girl opened her eyes.

"Hey sweet girl, I've got you, you're gonna be fine" Jo said through her tears.

"Save me Aunt Jo" the girl whispered.

"I've got you sweet girl, I've got you. Don't you dare let go."

Mac, having heard the commotion in the back room, rushed into the room to see what all the fuss was about.

"Jo, what the hell is goin' on?"

"Mac! I need paramedics in here now!"

Mac saw Jo cradling the victim who appeared to be alive but was fading fast and she wouldn't have a second chance if the paramedics weren't brought up to the scene right away.

Mac starred at the way Jo was talking to the girl as he called for the paramedics to come up to the apartment via radio.

"Yeah, this is detective Mac Taylor; I need paramedics up here, now!"

Right before the paramedics arrived Flack came rushing into the back room where he saw Mac and Jo applying pressure to the wounds the girl had sustained.

"I heard you call for the paramedics over the radio Mac, I wanted to see if everything was okay."

"Well we didn't expect our victim to be alive but here we are" said Mac as he continued to put pressure on the wound on her lower abdomen.

"The paramedics are on their way up, they should be here right, about, now."

As soon as Flack said "now", like magic, two paramedics who had been standing by, hauled ass into the back room to put the girl on the stretcher and rush her to St. Joseph's.

All three detectives backed up and let the paramedics do their job.

"She's allergic to penicillin and ceclor" Jo blurted out.

The paramedics and Mac and Flack turned to her and looked at her in bewilderment as if to say "how the hell do you know that" without actually saying "how the hell do you know that."

"What's her name Detective" one of the paramedics asked as the two paramedics put the girl on the stretcher.

"Her name is Emery Grace Josephson, 18, freshman at Virginia Tech; once upon a time she was my niece."

The paramedics nodded "detective, would you like to ride with us?"

Jo shook her head "I need to call her dad and uncle. You're taking her to St. Joseph's right?"

"Yes ma'am."

"Ok, I'll meet y'all there."

"Jo, I'll ride with her" Flack said.

Jo nodded appreciatively and watched Flack leave with the paramedics who carried Emery out quickly leaving Mac and Jo and alone. 

"She's Russ' niece, isn't she?"

Jo wrapped her arms around herself as she answered Mac's question.

"Yeah, she's Ben's kid." 

"You two were close weren't you" Mac asked as he drew Jo in his arms.

"Ben drove Lisa away much like Russ did to me. The Josephson boys were raised in a world where it was okay to claim women as property and Lisa didn't like that, neither did I but the difference between us was I didn't bail on my kid. Emery still blames her father partially and their relationship hasn't always been sturdy."

Mac nodded in understanding and let Jo continue.

"Even though Russ and I divorced, I made it clear that she could always come to me for advice or if she had a rough day and needed a hug, I would give her a hug. Back when I was livin' in Virginia, she'd come over every Friday night to come and have dinner with me so we could talk about our week, boys, petty high school girl drama, college plans, whatever but as soon I moved up here all of that stopped. I think she's mad at because I think she thinks I've bailed on her just like her mother did and I blame myself for not keeping track. I never imagined something like this would happen, to her."

Mac nodded "c'mon let's get you out of here and get you cleaned up."


	3. Hating Hospitals

**A/N: DISCLAIMER. In no way do I own CBS or CSI: NY. Please don't sue me! **

**This is my first CSI: NY fan fic but not my first fan fic. **

**I'm sorry this has taken SOOOOOO long to post. I moved in to college two weeks ago and since then life has been HECKTIC to say the least so here it is, chapter 3 :) **

**Ch. 3: Hating Hospitals **

Mac drove to the hospital only but because Jo was in no state to drive. Then again, when he thought about it, he was in no position to be driving either but he was the better of the two at the moment.

Mac parked the car. Jo practically leapt out of the car as soon as Mac put the car in park but he putting his arm across her mid-section stopped her. Jo was about to protest but the look in Mac's eyes told her there was no point in even attempting to argue with him. She sighed audibly, turned her head and looked at Mac. "What Mac?"

"Jo, before you go pace yourself to death in the waiting room, you should probably get cleaned up first."

Jo wanted to protest but instead just nodded and leaned her head back on the head rest.

Mac hadn't realized how tired she really was until he looked at her, really looked at her. He could see how much the past week had taken a toll on her and how the past hour had added on to her stress level and maybe even her sanity level. She was keeping the tears at bay, he could tell. She didn't want to break down in front of him but she'd rather break down in front of him than anybody else.

Jo scrubbed a hand over her face and buried her face in her hands. "God I have so much to do!" she thought aloud. "I've got to call Tyler to tell him about Emery and I've got to find Ellie someone to watch her. I should call Lindsey, no no, she's got a kid of her own and I could never ask her to do that. Maybe I should call Kassandra, my usual babysitter; she'd be working overtime big time but I'm desperate; no she's got school to worry about. Damn it! Maybe Mama could? I've gotta call Russ and then oh God, I've gotta call Ben! I've never had to call to notify someone I know whose daughter was the victim of a vicious attack… Oh my God! I just remembered that Emery hates hospitals; she always has and always will. I should get her some clean clothes a blanket and a teddy bear. I think she'd like that but maybe she won't after all I think she's mad at me for leaving."

Halfway through Jo's rant, Mac noticed the tears glistening on her hands. Mac had to put an end to her rant because it was just too much; too much to handle, too much to bear, too much for anybody. He slowly took away her hands from her face. Jo hadn't noticed she was crying until that very moment when Mac took her hands away. She looked at him. He looked at her.

"Jo."

"Mac?"

"Here's what you need to do. You need to find some clean clothes and if that warrants me to go and get you some clean clothes from your place, so be it. After you get those clean clothes put them on and give me your bloody clothes so that they can be tagged as evidence in case any transfer got on you. Then you need to go and pace until there's a hole in that waiting room floor because I know that's what you're gonna do and I know nothing is gonna stop you so I'm not gonna stop you. Get Emery some clothes, blanket and teddy bear, I'm sure she'd love it; once she's out of surgery it'd sure be nice to see a familiar face whether she wants to or not. Leave calling Russ and Ben to me. Don't give me that look Jo, as of right now she's the only family or friend she's got and she needs you."

Jo didn't say anything; she just sat in the same position she had been for the past couple of minutes and didn't move.

"I need some clothes obviously and so does Emery."

"Okay, I'll go by your apartment and get you some clothes, as for Emery, I'm not sure."

"Just grab one of my overly large sleeping t-shirts and pajama pants; I want her to be as comfortable as possible. As for me a clean pair of jeans and a sweatshirt works for me."

A ghost of a smile appeared on Mac's face and Jo returned the favor.

"Well, I better get going so I can get the clothes and come back."

Jo nodded. "See you in a bit."

"Oh Mac! There's a teddy bear in the spare bedroom. Emery came over for a week one time to stay with Russ and I because Ben had to go to California and when Ben came to pick it up she forgot it. I kept meaning to give it back to her but I forgot all about it and so did she."

"Don't worry Jo; she'll be getting that teddy bear back today." As he said this, Mac offered Jo a smile, a smile that said "don't worry, I've got it all under control. I've got you and everything is going to be okay. You worry about Emery and I'll worry about everything else."

Jo returned the smile that simply said "thank you."

"Well Rodeo Queen, I must get going if you want me to get all these things for you." Jo rolled her eyes and chuckled. "Sorry to keep you Cowboy" she said with a grin on her face.

Mac's face softened. "Emery's going to be fine." "I hope you're right Mac, I hope to God you're right." "I am." Jo's eyes shimmered with unshed tears as she and Mac stared at each other with intensity. Jo finally broke the contact when she said "well, I'm going to go pace a hole in the floor." "I'll be there in a few to help make that hole bigger." Jo smiled and headed towards the elevator leading up to the waiting room while Mac drove off into the distance.


	4. Dead and Alive

**A/N: DISCLAIMER. In no way do I own CBS or CSI: NY. Please don't sue me! **

**This is my first CSI: NY fan fic but not my first fan fic. **

**Ch. 4: Dead and Alive **

Emery began to stir which is what awoke Jo from her fitful slumber. Jo had been the doting aunt who spent the night at the hospital the world's most uncomfortable chair but she would do anything for Emery and if that meant back problems later down the road, she didn't care.

Emery began to frantically look around, confused about her surroundings. Jo, sensing her distress and discomfort, began making gentle shushing noises and pulled up her chair next to Emery's head and began to stroke her hair.

"Where am I?" asked Emery as she hugged her teddy bear close to her chest. Emery's normal, sweet and low southern accent was deeper and thicker than usual because her throat was dry from when the doctors put a tube down here throat when she went under general anesthesia for her surgery.

"Sweetie, you're in the hospital."

"I'm thirsty Aunt Jo."

Jo simply nodded her head in understanding and got up out of her seat and got Emery an ice cold glass of water; the ice came from the ice bucket on the counter near the sink and the water came from the pitcher on Emery's bedside. Jo handed her niece the cup of water and Emery gulped it down in a matter of seconds and a few seconds afterwards she burped to which Jo chuckled.

"Wow. It has been a long time since you and Tyler had a burping contest, at least that I've witnessed," said Jo, trying to mask the seriousness of their current situation.

Emery chuckled then suddenly stopped and slowly turned to face Jo. "Wait. Aunt Jo? What are you doing here? I'm the hospital? Since when did this happen? Does dad know? Hold on, don't answer that. Of course he doesn't know he's undercover so how would he know? What about Uncle Russ? What about-"

But before Emery could finish her thought, Jo put a finger to her lips. "Whoa whoa whoa, hold your horses' baby girl. First, I need to let the doctor know you're awake and then we can talk."

"Can you please hold off on getting the doctor? I hate hospitals enough as it is and I really don't like the tone of your "then we can talk"."

"I know baby girl. I know" said Jo as she kissed the top of her head. "But the doctors need to know you're alright and they need to check up on some things. I'll be right back."

"Please don't leave me Aunt Jo, please."

Right as Jo turned around to talk to Emery, Mac entered the room with two cups of coffee in his hand.

Seeing the obvious look of anguish on Jo's face, Mac asked "Jo is everything okay?"

Jo smiled and the anguish immediately left her face being replaced with a look pure joy. "Everything is great now."

"Here, I brought you some coffee. Are you sure you're okay?"

Jo graciously took the steaming cup of Joe and replied "yeah. Mac, come over here and meet Emery."

"She's awake?"

Jo smiled, "yeah."

Jo took Mac's hand and practically dragged him to Emery's bedside.

"Detective Mac Taylor I'd like you to meet my niece, Miss Emery Josephson. Emery, this is my partner, Mac Taylor."

Emery stuck out her good hand and offered it to Mac which Mac took gently.

"Nice to meet you Miss Josephson" said Mac as he offered Emery a smile.

Emery returned Mac's smile, beamed up at him and said "glad to meet you Detective Taylor."

"Please call me Mac."

"If I get to call you Mac, you get to call me Emery."

"Touché."

"I hate to break up the love fest goin' on between you two but Mac I was wondering if you could do me another favor, if it's not too much to ask; I've been asking you to do a lot for me lately, I know but-."

"Jo, how many times do I have times do I have to tell you, it's fine."

"Are you sure?"

"Yes, now you were saying."

Jo looked over at Emery and decided it would be best to say what she had to say away from her so she led Mac over by the door.

"Can you go get the doctor?"

"Haven't you already gone to get him?"

"No."

Mac gave Jo a look that said "care to explain?"

"I told you that Emery hates hospitals. Right before you came in I told her that I needed to go get the doctor but she begged for me not to leave her."

"That's why there was a pained look on your face when I came in."

"Yes and then you came in and I thought "perfect, Mac can go get the doctor."

"What am I your page boy" Mac teased.

Jo playfully smacked his arm. "This week, yes you are."

"Yes your highness, I will go and fetch the doctor for you" Mac said as he did a mock bow in front of Jo.

Jo lightly and playfully kicked Mac as he left the hospital room.

Jo turned her attention back to Emery who was looking at her aunt with a mischievous gleam in her eye.

"Hush you" said Jo as she took a seat on the world's most uncomfortable chair.

"I didn't say anything Aunt Jo" replied Emery with feigned innocence.

"You weren't saying anything very loudly."

"What's goin' on with you and Lieutenant Dan over there?"

"Lieutenant Dan? Are you referring to Mac?"

"Um hello, I'm referring my favorite movie, Forrest Gump? I swear. Mac could be Lieutenant Dan's doppelganger."

"Mhm, whatever you say."

"Anyways that's beside the point. What is goin' on with you two?"

"Nothing" said Jo, which was the truth. There had always been the playful banter and non-stop flirting but there was nothing actually going on between the two of them.

"Oh come on, don't tell me _that_ was nothing."

"It _was_!"

"Yes and pigs fly!"

"I know you're using this as a diversion."

"Psh, no I'm not."

"And pigs fly. C'mon sweetie, we need to talk, you know this."

Emery got quiet. "I remember what happened."

"Tell me about it."

Emery extended her hand for Jo to take a grab of; at this moment Emery need physical and moral support.

"I went to go visit Spence because it's his birthday weekend."

"How did you two meet?"

Emery rolled her eyes "don't give me your routine cop bull Aunt Jo, you know me better than that." The venom so easily rolled off of Emery's tongue that for a moment Jo was taken aback by her surliness but was able to regain her composure and softly said "tell me about him."

"Remember Anna? She was my tall, model friend who was always over at my house?"

"Reddish-blonde hair, big blue eyes and a laugh that made you laugh?"

"That's the one."

"What about her?"

"She really wanted to go to NYU to get her law degree but she wasn't accepted but Hudson U gave her a full ride so she took it."

"Let me guess she was the mutual friend who set you up on a blind date with Spencer."

"Kinda. Spencer is a junior, which means he's two years older than us but he was in the same Chem class as Anna. Anna was assigned to Spencer as his study partner. One weekend I came up to see Anna and she took me to this little pizzeria where we met Spencer so they could study. After a while they asked me to quiz them and after a while, Anna fell asleep, Spencer and I talked and the rest is history."

Jo nodded. "This weekend is his birthday weekend so I came up to spend time with him."

"So what happened?"

"I don't know. We had just cleaned up after eating dinner and were about to sit down for a movie when this guy broke down the door and started shooting."

"Did you get a good look at him?"

Emery wiped her nose. "No, all I saw was a guy with black shoes, jeans and hoodie with a gun, that was pointed at us."

"What kind of gun?"

"Don't you know? You're the detective here, not me!"

"Shh, okay okay, I was just wondering if you saw the gun."

"All I know it was black, just like the clothes he was wearing."

"Could you make out what race he was?"

"Caucasian, about 6'3", probably weighed a good 250 pounds. He didn't have any visible tattoos or scars. I didn't get a real good look at his face."

"What happened after he knocked down the door?"

"Spencer told me to run."

"So you ran."

"I ran into the back because that was the only place I could think of but he was able to get two rounds off in me before I could get away."

"Then you hid under the bed."

"I didn't know where else to hide. That's all I can remember."

"That's okay."

"Oh my God! Spence! Is he okay? Can I go see him? I vaguely remember hearing shots when I was under the bed but I lost consciousness. Aunt Jo, is Spencer going to be okay?"

Jo fought back the tears that were starting to prick her eyes. She dropped her eyes to her hand that was still intertwined with Emery's, gave Emery's hand a squeeze and then looked back up to meet Emery's gaze.

"Sweetie pie, I don't know how to tell you this," Jo began her voice quiet and wavering as she tried to maintain her composure, "but Spencer, Spencer's dead. I'm so sorry."

Emery's cheeks were damp from crying but she didn't scream or break down into rib racking sobs, instead she stared out into space, with tears pouring down her cheeks, holding Jo's hand because her aunt's hand was the only thing that would save her from drowning in her emotions.

Just then Mac came in with the doctor and the tears trickling down Jo's face told him everything he needed to know. He rushed over and drew up a chair next to Jo's and held her hand as the doctor spoke with the trio, giving them his good prognosis about Emery but none of them heard him. Jo was too busy worrying over Emery, Mac way too busy worrying over Jo and Emery had never felt so dead while being so alive.


	5. Hospital Scene

**A/N: DISCLAIMER. In no way do I own CBS or CSI: NY. Please don't sue me! **

**This is my first CSI: NY fan fic but not my first fan fic. **

**Chapter 5: Hospital Scene **

The hot water pounded against Emery's skin as it poured out of the shower head; it was the perfect combination of heat and water pressure. She let the water turn her skin to a raw red color but she loved the feeling. The sensations coursing through her made her feel alive.

After Emery finished washing her hair she began to wash her body. She lathered the soap Jo had brought her in between her hands and began to rub the substance all over her body. As the water washed away the soap on Emery's arms and legs, some of the stress and weight of her situation washed away too. Emery's motions slowed when she reached her lower abdomen and gently rubbed soap over the stitches.

Emery paused.

She had been shot, twice no less. She survived. She felt alive. She was alive.

Spencer had been shot. Spencer hadn't survived.

These thoughts brought tears to Emery's eyes. Suddenly, an onslaught of tears began to stream down her face but she did nothing to stop them.

Emery couldn't decipher whether the water on her face was her tears or from the shower. What Emery did know was that with each tear and each sob she was getting weaker. If anyone had been in that hospital bathroom with her, they would see that she was getting weaker for she began to sink against the white tiled wall until she could sink no longer, tucked her knees under her chin and stared out into space.

Jo was getting worried, restless even. Emery had been had been in the shower for a long while now hadn't come out. Jo's mind began to come up with a million different scenarios, all which ended badly so she decided to go check on her niece.

Jo rapped on the door. "Emery? Sweetie? Are you alright in there?"

The incessant knocking on the bathroom door caused Emery to come out of her revere.

"I'm fine Aunt Jo!"

"Are you sure?"

"Yeah!"

Jo still wasn't entirely convinced and could practically hear Emery roll her eyes.

Emery rolled her eyes. "I can hear you thinking Aunt Jo."

"I'm just making sure you're okay" replied Jo, in a low voice, as she leaned her head up against the door.

Emery's facial features softened, her aunt's kind gesture causing tears to spring anew in her eyes but she was going to keep her ground.

"I'm fine."

Both women knew that wasn't the case but Emery was too tired to argue with her aunt and Jo decided just to drop the subject entirely.

"Okay, well once you're done, there are clean pair of sweatpants, t-shirt and pair of fuzzy socks waiting for you on your bed; should be a nice change from that scratchy hospital gown you've had to wear for the past couple of days" remarked Jo, attempting to lighten the mood.

Emery chucked softly, "good 'ol Aunt Jo" Emery said to herself.

"Sounds great Aunt Jo," Emery began "thank you."

"You're welcome baby girl. I'm gonna go place a call to Mac to see how the case is going and when I come back I want you out of that shower." 

"What?"

"You heard me missy."

"Fine." 

"Good girl."

"Who am I Scooby Doo? Do I get a Scooby Snack for this?" 

"How does nice, hot caramel latte with a cinnamon bun sound?"

"I'm out! I'm out!" shouted Emery as she quickly but painfully got out of her sitting position on the shower floor, turned off the water and wrapped a white fluffy towel around her.

Jo smiled as she heard Emery rustling around behind the bathroom and stepped out to make the phone call to Mac.

Emery poked her head out of the bathroom and saw that she was indeed alone and there was in fact a steaming cup containing her caramel latte and next to said steaming latte was a very large, tasty looking cinnamon bun calling her name.

Emery changed into the comfortable, overly large clothes that her aunt had gotten for her. She climbed into her hospital bed and began to read her text messages and check Facebook and Twitter updates as she sipped her latte and ate her cinnamon bun.

As she read the messages, she began to have that sinking, unwelcomed feeling again and it wasn't until she read a three page long text from her best friend and five minute voicemail that she was sent over the edge.

She didn't want to break down. Not again at least.

Just then Jo came back into the hospital room with an unreadable expression.

Emery quickly wiped away the tears that had begun to brim her eyes.

Jo sat down on the chair that was furthest away Emery's hospital bed and placed her head in her hands.

Emery immediately sensed that something was wrong with her aunt so she quietly got out of her spot on her bed and slowly walked over towards her aunt.

"Aunt Jo?"

Jo looked up at Emery who was looking over her, her face etched with worry but Jo could see the personal pain Emery was trying to mask with concern for her aunt.

Jo just smiled weakly at her.

"Don't worry about me baby, I'm fine."

Emery cocked her head as if to say "that's a lie."

Jo let out a mirthless laugh "you and I aren't very good at masking our feelings, are we."

Jo's question wasn't really a question, it was more of a statement and Emery knew that.

Emery chuckled but suddenly felt the old familiar feeling, nagging at her, pulling her insides apart.

Jo could tell Emery was struggling but figured it was best to let Emery be.

Emery could tell Jo wanted to help her out but could also see that Jo was giving her space.

Emery decided to just let go and broke down into rib racking sobs and crawled into Jo's lap.

Jo just pulled Emery tighter to her chest and put rested her chin on Emery's head and let the tears fall.


	6. Fuel to the Fire

**A/N: I hope this chapter makes sense, I wrote this at like 3 in the morning. Lol. **

**Chapter 6: Fuel to the Fire **

Mac sat in his office reading through the case reports again because none of the evidence seemed to be adding up and the evidence that was adding up kept pointing to Jo's niece, Emery.

There was a knock on Mac's glass door that led to his office. It was Danny.

"Hey Mac, so I ran Spencer Morris' name through AFIS and CODIS but I found out that the real Spencer Morris died about ten years ago at the age of eighty six due to natural causes."

"So then who the hell is on one of our slabs down in autopsy?" 

"I figured you'd ask so I ran his face through every data base I could think of."

"Anything?"

"Not just anything; Mac, "Spencer Morris" is a twenty eight year old FBI Agent named Hunter Wilcox."

"What's a twenty eight year old FBI Agent doing posing as a college student?"

"I can't answer that but I did contact the FBI to tell them that Hunter's body is down in our autopsy and they said they were sending an agent to overlook the investigation."

"Did they say which agent?"

"Yeah."

Danny inwardly cringed, slightly.

"Do we know 'im?"

"Oh yeah, it's Jo's ex-husband, Russ."

"Great, more fuel to the fire."

**CSI:NY CSI:NY CSI:NY**

Jo and Emery never spoke again of that day when they had their meltdowns; they had a silent agreement to keep silent.

Emery spent two more days in the hospital before she was able to be discharged and after that she was put under her aunt's own form of house arrest.

Emery and Jo were cuddling on the couch together, having a girls day that consisted of staying in pajamas all day, eating junk food, and watching You've Got Mail, Pretty Woman, No Reservations, and The Breakfast Club. Jo was enjoying the day with Emery but her mind kept wandering back to the case.

Jo had still not told Emery why she had been in such an emotional state that day and feared that the decision she made, to keep her niece in the dark, was going to come back and bite her in the ass, hard. But how was she going to break the news to Emery that there was evidence that suggested she had something to do with her boyfriend's murder?

Jo's phone began to ring which drew her out of her reverie. Jo heard Emery moan slightly and when she looked over, she saw that Emery was fast asleep. Jo flipped her phone open without even bothering to check the caller ID.

"Jo Danville."

"Jo, it's me, Russ."

Jo covered her face and tilted her head back; she could not believe _Russ_ was calling her. "I thought you'd be Mac."

"Care to share?" Russ asked in a teasing tone.

"No, there's nothing to share Russ, now why are you calling me? Is Tyler okay?"

"Tyler's fine, had lunch with him the other day."

"Yeah, he mentioned that when he called me on Sunday."

"I'm actually calling about the case."

"What case, our case, the case involving Emery?"

"Yeah, that case. Danny called the FBI and they called me and asked me to assist in the case."

"Why?"

"Because Emery's boyfriend wasn't really a twenty year old college student at Hudson U named Spencer Morris. Jo, Spencer Morris is really twenty eight year old Hunter Wilcox, an undercover FBI Agent." 

"What? Why was he undercover, dating our niece?" 

"I don't know and that's what I'm here to find out. I'm leaving the crime lab right now and now I'm off to try and track down some leads."

"Okay, well call me if you get any leads."

"Yeah, I will."

Russ' voice became very solemn when he said "Jo, I've seen some of the evidence against Emery and it's not looking good."

"I don't care what the evidence says, she didn't do it."

"Jo, Mac thinks that Emery might have been up to something and that's why Wilcox went undercover, to stop her."

"No, nuh uh, not Emery."

"Mac thinks that she discovered Wilcox's true identity and had him killed."

"Because that makes total sense; she has her boyfriend killed and then almost dies too? I don't think so and if she hired someone to kill Wilcox, where'd she get the money?" 

"I don't know but over twenty five grand was wired into her bank account earlier this week, your buddy Adam is trying to find out where it originated."

"Are you serious?" 

"As a heart attack."

Jo heaved a heavy sigh and scrubbed a face over her hands.

"How are you so calm about this? How are you not concerned for your niece?"

"Jo, don't you dare question whether I care for her or not because you know I do! I mean, damn it, we practically raised her!"

"I know, I know."

"I also don't like the fact Mac had to call me and tell me what was going on with _our_ niece."

Jo sighed. "I'm sorry Russ but I was so overwhelmed - speaking of calls, have you been able to reach Ben?"

"He's unreachable; he's deep undercover and only contacts the FBI every so often, which isn't that often; last time they heard from him was three maybe four months ago."

"Geeze."

"They're still trying to track 'im down but so far, no luck."

Jo heard a beeping coming from her phone and when she took her phone away from her ear she realized she had another caller, Mac. 

"Well listen Russ, I gotta go, looks like Mac's calling me."

"Call you later Jo. Bye."

Jo ended the call between her and Russ and switched over to Mac. "Hey Mac."

"Hey, what took you so long to answer?"

"Sorry, I was on the phone with Russ."

"Ah, so I take it you know everything."

"Pretty much."

"Listen Jo, you need to bring Emery down for questioning." 

"What? Excuse me Mac; I don't want to do that until we have conclusive evidence against her."

"Jo, you need to stay objective on this one and bring her down for questioning."

Jo snapped "fine, I'll see you in a little bit."

Jo looked over at her sleeping niece and slowly began to draw circular patterns on her hip.

"C'mon sweetie, we gotta get up and get dressed."

"Whyyyyyyyyy" Emery groaned.

"We're being summoned down to the crime lab, Mac's orders."

"Fiiiiiiiiiiiiine" was the response Jo got from the lump under the blankets.

**CSI:NY CSI:NY CSI:NY**

A look of awe was on Emery's face as the elevator doors opened to reveal the place where Jo worked, the New York Crime Lab.

"Wow, so this is the infamous New York Crime Lab, huh Aunt Jo," asked Emery with a slight smile on her face.

Jo smiled but the smile didn't quite reach her ears as she replied "that's right missy ma'am, this is it."

Mac walked up towards Jo and Emery as they stepped off of the elevator.

"Hey you two."

"Hey Mac" they said in unison, although one of them was more enthusiastic than the other and one could only guess which one.

"Jo, here is the file for the case we have so far, read it because you're gonna be the one doing the questioning here."

"Emery, come with me" said Jo as she gave Mac a cold, steely glare.

Jo turned to Emery to explain the two women walked down the hall to interrogation. "Apparently I need to ask you a few questions," said Jo as they walked into the interrogation room.

"What the hell?"

"I know, I know, I don't like it either."

Emery observed her aunt and saw that Jo was hiding something. "How long have you known?"

Jo tried to play dumb. "Known?" She said as, they aunt-niece paring walked into interrogation.

"_Do not_ play dumb with me; we both know you're too good for that! I'm talking about the discrepancies. How long have you known?"

"The second day you were in the hospital."

"The _second day_ I was in the hospital? That was three days ago! When were you going to tell me?"

"I couldn't ever find the right time."

"Because _now _is just _peachy_. So what are the discrepancies?"

Jo paused. She could not believe what she was about to do – interrogate her niece.

"Sweetie, there is evidence that suggests that you had something to do with Agent Wilcox's death."

"Who the hell is Agent Wilcox?"

Jo observed Emery's facial expressions and saw a genuine look of surprise, disgust, hurt and betrayal etched on to her face.

"Your boyfriend; his real name is Special Agent Hunter Wilcox of the FBI."

Emery sat still for a moment as her world once again came crashing down.

"You mean to tell me that my boyfriend wasn't really my boyfriend, that this whole thing has been a lie?"

"Yes, Agent Wilcox was working undercover for the FBI; undercover missions are apparently his specialty. Do you know why he'd go undercover and pose as college student?"

"Shouldn't you ask the FBI that?"

"Russ is running down some leads now and is trying to get some answers."

"Uncle Russ is involved?" Emery began with disbelief. "Jesus Christ."

"What happened, huh? Did you find out that he was really just an undercover agent trying to expose something? Maybe he found something out about you, something that you were doing, have been doing, that was illegal and so you had him killed?"

"Oh my God, no! I don't do drugs, I don't launder money and I don't prostitute myself; I'm not that kind of person and you of all people should know that."

Jo crossed her arms.

"How should I know? We haven't seen each other in quite a long time and things change."

"Seriously?" Emery's voice reached a shrilling decibel.

"Funny you should bring up money: over twenty five grand was wired into your bank account; care to explain where you got the money?"

"I don't know because I've never seen it before!"

"It's in _your_ bank account." 

"I don't know anything about this money!"

"It's your word against the evidence."

Emery had had enough of the bull shit games.

"Mac, excuse me, Detective Taylor, put you up to this didn't he? To interrogate me, see if I'd crack because you're my aunt and all? Wow, I'm, touched isn't the right word in this case, oh right, I know the right word, hurt, betrayed, insert appropriate synonym here! Sounds to me like you only have circumstantial evidence against me. You can't tell me where the money came from or who the money came from! You can't even tell me what Spenc- I mean Agent Wilcox was doing undercover! New York's finest, yeah right! Now, if you're going to arrest me, fine, arrest me so I can call my damn lawyer. If you're not going to arrest me I want someone, anyone, to go and get Uncle Russ; I want to get the hell out of here."

Jo's voice softened and she went back to being Jo Danville, loving mother and aunt. "Sweetie, I never wanted to accuse you of murder." 

"But you did it anyway!"

"I didn't have a choice!"

"You did have a choice and you _chose _to accuse me of murder!"

"I want the evidence to be wrong sweetie; you don't know how much I want the evidence to be wrong."

"Oh really, so why the hell are we in here, huh? Why are you keeping me in this interrogation room? Why the hell are you accusing me of murder? You're supposedly my aunt, my _family_ and the last time I checked _family_ doesn't accuse one of their own of murder!" 

"Emery, we are family."

"We stopped being _family _the moment you accused me of murdering my boyfriend!"

"Emery-"

Emery looked up at Jo with a look that could kill. "Sorry, I was taught not to talk to _strangers._"

Emery's steely cool tone surprised both women and caused tears to prick Jo's eyes.

Jo nodded solemnly and began to walk towards the door.

"Oh and Jo?"

The formality of Jo's name was bitter on Emery's tongue and caused Jo's breath to catch – she never thought she'd see the day when her niece would call her by her first name.

"Tell Mac he can go to hell."

Jo nodded a little bit, more in agreement with Emery's statement than the recognition that Emery was talking to her.

Mac had watched the whole interrogation go down and he suddenly felt a pang of guilt in his chest because he may have just fueled the fire that was burning the bridge between Emery and Jo.

Jo rushed out of the interrogation room and began to walk swiftly towards her office.

Mac went after her.

"Jo! Wait up Jo."

Jo stopped for a moment and then turned around and walked back towards Mac. As Mac observed her walking he couldn't help but notice she moved like an animal that was going after their prey so he braced himself for the inevitable.

"No, I will not wait up for the man who just had me accuse my niece of murder. She's right you know; we don't have any conclusive evidence that ties her to Agent Wilcox's murder, it's all circumstantial, including the money transfer. I suggest the next time you have me accuse someone I love of murder that we have conclusive and substantial evidence before hand. I can't believe I actually listened to you; you played me like puppet and I don't like that, at all. Whatever we had Mac Taylor, the flirtation, the lingering question of "will we, won't we" is officially over and Emery was right about another thing, you _can_ go to hell."


	7. Cousins

**Disclaimer: CBS owns CSI: NY, I do not. A/N: The last chapter was angsty, I know, so this chapter is a little lighter. Enjoy. Please review :) **

**Chapter 7: Cousins **

As Emery stepped out of the building that was home to the New York Crime Lab and as she began to walk along the city's sidewalk, she noted that the crisp, New York air was a refreshing change. As she rounded the corner her phone began to ring, so she dug it out of her purse and answered it, not really bothering to look at the caller ID.

"Hello?" 

"Cousin o mine!" 

Emery couldn't help but smile warmly into the phone. The caller was Tyler.

"Hey stranger."

"I hear you're in town."

"You've heard correctly."

"Great! Let's go grab a bite to eat and then we can do somethin' afterwards, anything."

"That sounds absolutely wonderful. Tyler, why do I have the sinking feeling that we're going to wind up talking about the complexity of college girls?"

"How did you know?" 

"Because the last time you called me it was because you needed Alex advice. Is that all I am to you Tyler; your own personal Dr. Phil, or in this case, Dr. Phyllis?"

Tyler laughed out loud at his cousin.

"You're insane."

"Well, there's a debate going on about that."

"I know this great burger place on Harper Street, sound good?"

"You know I love me a good burger" revealed Emery, as her sweet and low southern twang kicked in.

"You've been under that Virginian sun for too long." 

"Have not! You've been in New York for too long – you're losing touch with your southern roots! Don't go towards the city lights!"

Emery could practically hear Tyler rolling his eyes at her.

"I'm almost there, are you almost there?"

"Give me like two minutes bro" Emery said in her best New York accent which failed, miserably.

"Cousin, not bro."

"I'm gonna beat your ass when I see you, oh look, I do see you. Talking on the phone is pointless at this point, kay, byeeeee."

Tyler and Emery met in front of the burger joint off of Harper Street, home of "heaven on a sesame seed bun" as Jo put it.

"You hung up on me, jerk!" 

"I did no such thing; I said 'byeeeee' _then_ I hung up. See, there's a difference."

"I was about to say something and you should've picked up on that."

Emery smirked, "will you quit bickering and get the hell over here so I can hug my cousin?"

"Oh, right" said Tyler, his voice dripping with feigned innocence as he practically squeezed the life out of Emery.

"'Oh right' he says. Hey cuz," said Emery, as she fully reciprocated the hug.

"Shall we?"

"Let's shall."

The two cousins decided to sit at the bar, where there were two empty stools that were calling their names. They both ordered burgers, with the works, with fries on the side and Coke's to drink. As they waited on their food, they kept their conversation light; they stuck to topics like Virginia Tech, New York, friends and Tyler's girlfriend, Alex, the artist, until the fated names of Russ Josephson and Jo Danville were brought up.

"One of them put you up to this, having dinner with me, didn't they" questioned Emery, knowingly.

"Sorta" admitted Tyler sheepishly.

"Which one?"

"Both, again, sorta. They're both worried sick about you: Dad was kinda mum on the subject but Mom, Mom told me mostly everything."

"Mostly everything?" Emery exclaimed, in a rushed whisper.

"Well, yeah, I was sworn to secrecy, seeing as though she can't technically discuss the ligisitics of the case with me but you've gotta believe me when I say that I decided to reach out to you, to have dinner with you."

"And I believe you."

"But?" 

"But _nothing_."

Tyler observed Emery as she ate a few fries. "That fight with Mom was as bad as she said it was, wasn't it?" 

"You just told me you were told practically everything."

"Yeah but c'mon Em, this is my _mother_ we're talking about here: a woman who tends to exaggerate, a lot."

"Well, I can tell you that she wasn't exaggerating this time Ty."

"That fight screwed you up, screwed you both up."

Emery crossed her arms after she finished her burger. "Yeah, well, she betrayed me Tyler."

"I don't think so." 

"How can you say that?"

"You know you're interrogation is going to be inadmissible in court, right?"

"What?"

"Conflict of interest."

"What the hell are you getting at Josephson?" 

"Mac knows you didn't kill that guy and certainly Mom does too."

"Sure as hell didn't act like it."

Tyler shot her a glare that was pure Jo. "Will you let me explain?" 

"Fine, go on."

"Em, anything you've said up to this point, that may or may not be used against you, can't be used in court because Mac willingly and knowingly broke the law."

"You're saying he had me interrogated on purpose?" 

"Yes; I overheard Dad talking to Mac earlier today and the FBI told Dad that the agent, Agent Wilcox right? Was close to busting a dirty agent who's been undercover for one of Virginia's biggest crime families. This dirty agent has been undercover with them for months as a handler. Since this guy is another agent, he's probably stuck as close to the case as he can, making sure his trail stays covered while someone else, you, goes down for the crime he committed."

"So by interrogating me, having me in custody, sorta, that Mac was making it look like I was slowly going down for this dirty, mystery agent?"

"Yes."

"That's damn good Tyler but stupid as hell because Mac played Aunt Jo."

"Hey, I didn't say I liked what he did to Mom or that his plan was perfect, all I know is that it worked."

"How did you come by all this information?"

"Instead of hitting 'end call' Dad hit 'speaker phone' so I heard conversation he had with Mac about the case."

"Look at you."

"It runs in the family, what can I say?"

Suddenly something clicked in Emery's brain; her heart began to pound, her palms began to sweat, her pupils dilated and she suddenly felt very sick to her stomach because she knew who the killer was.

Tyler noticed the change in Emery's behavior. "Em, Em, you okay?"

"No, no, we have to go to the Crime Lab_, now."_

Tyler and Emery literally ran to the Crime Lab; mostly it was Tyler running after Emery since he had no clue what was going on in her head. Since it was after dinner time, most of the crime lab's employees were gone, most.

"Aunt Jo? Uncle Russ? Mac?"

Jo was talking with Adam about the trace he was running on the money that had been transferred into Emery's account and Russ and Mac were talking about Wilcox's file when they all heard Emery's frantic cries and all rushed out to see what was going on. Jo was the first one to get to Emery and Tyler.

"Tyler, Emery, what are y'all doin' here? Is everything alright?"

"I dunno Mom, I just followed here here; she said we had to get here as fast as we could."

Jo began to run her hands up and down Emery's arms to try and soothe her but the unwavering look in Emery's eyes said that her efforts were, although appreciated and comforting, to no avail. Tears formed in her eyes and her voice cracked as she spoke.

"Emery, what's wrong angel?"

"I-I know who the k-killer is."

"What's going on," asked Mac and Russ in unison as they joined the trio, huddled in the middle of the hall.

"Emery thinks she knows who the killer is," Jo explained, leaving the two men with expressions of awe on their faces.

Emery let out her frustration. "No! I don't think, I know!"

"Who is it Emery," Mac asked.

Emery looked at Jo and then at Russ and then back at Jo. "It's Dad."

"What's Dad, sweetie?"

"The killer, it's – it's my father, it's Dad."

There were a collection of gasps heard in the hallway as Emery revealed her revelation.

"How the hell did you come to that conclusion," asked Russ, partially outraged that Emery, Ben's own daughter was accusing him of murder and he was partially curious to see where she'd go with this.

"Ty was telling me everything he knew about the case at the Harper Street burger place and it wasn't until after he finished telling me everything that he said 'family business' that made everything click. Spenc- I mean Agent Wilcox was undercover, trying to expose a dirty agent, who was working undercover as a handler for one of Virginia's biggest crime families and that dirty agent was Dad because it would explain why Agent Wilcox used me as a front."

"You were his-" Mac began.

"Girlfriend, exactly," Emery finished. "It was the perfect and unsuspecting cover until someone found out about it and killed him. I don't know how though, I mentioned Spencer to Dad maybe once, twice at the most." 

Russ had his arms crossed, trying to come to terms with the information Emery was piecing together for them. "Well, the FBI is kinda small when it comes to undercover agents."

"Sweetie, I don't doubt what you're saying but you need evidence to back up your claims."

As if on cue, Adam emerged from office with a piece of paper in his hand. "Mind if I join your pow wow for a minute? Boss, Lady Boss, Mr. FBI Agent Sir," Adam began, lightening the mood, causing Tyler and Emery to snicker quietly as two out the three adults mockingly glared at Adam, one could guess who wasn't so happy to hear the nickname. "After many hours of manual labor and slaving over the computer, I was able to trace the money that was wired to Emery's bank account."

"Great, so where'd it come from?" Jo asked.

"They money came from an off-shore account in the Camden Islands under the name Pauley Paglia head the the Paglia crime family, located in Virginia. I ran all the other names in the account against various databases and since the FBI has so graciously been cooperating with us, I was able to get a wider search and found that most of the names were names of the members of the crime family but one name in particular stuck out, Bennie Julianelli. Bennie Julianelli's name was only recently added to this account."

"How recent?" asked Russ.

"About six months ago and I did more checking with the FBI, Bennie Julianelli is the alias they created for Agent Benjamin Josephson, Emery's dad."

Everyone stood there, shell shocked, unsure of what to say. Emery had been right and there was evidence to prove it.

"That explains why Ben hasn't returned any of our calls, he's on the run" stated Jo as Emery ran into her arms, buried her face into her neck and cried.


End file.
